President Obama's speech to Booker T. Washington High left mark on students, neighborhood

A year ago, valedictorian Alexis Wilson (left), salutatorian Vashti Taylor and senior Christopher Dean took the stage for Booker T. Washington's graduation. Principal Alisha Kiner and President Barack Obama are at right.

A year ago today, the city was tuned to Booker T. Washington and President Barack Obama's historic graduation speech.

The change a year later is subtle for the most part -- a sense of purpose and determination in BTW's gritty South Memphis neighborhood -- but a glowing touchstone for the seniors who shook the president's hand or sat on the platform with him.

Valedictorian Alexis Wilson thought of giving her address on stage with Obama whenever she needed a lift as a freshman at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga.

"I used that moment in time to motivate me through the year," she said.

"We believe things others say about us rather than the positive things we know about ourselves," he said.

Christopher Dean, the senior with no future plans until he introduced Obama and rocketed to YouTube fame, received the biggest dividend.

With financial backing from Memphians, including Norman, he got accepted late into Lane College in Jackson, Tenn. He hopes to eventually transfer to the University of Memphis as a psychology major. For now, he is home looking for a summer job and a place to live.

"I don't know what my life would have been, so I can't say how it's different. But I can say to all the people in my life helping me, I am grateful."

At Lane, "I went back into my shell," he said quietly. "People saw me as the dude who met Obama, who was on TV, went to New York and Washington and thought I was too much."

Dean was one of three students in the state selected to tell their stories on the PBS/WKNO documentary "American Graduate," which aired last week.

"He feels a responsibility to where he came from," said WKNO producer Pierre Kimsey.

"He also feels responsible for the belief that so many people have in him .... He doesn't want to let people down.

"He's the first to tell you he doesn't want to let himself down, either," Kimsey said.

The hardest part for Dean is the expectation people have, especially his BTW peers, that he can change their lives.

"They think I'm rich. They think I can get them a job.

"I'm still having a hard time with everything -- money, family," Dean said, his voice trailing off.

"Everyone expects me to be doing well."

He has recurring dreams that he is dropping bags of money from a helicopter over South Memphis.

"If I was good enough to meet the president, I am good enough to get a job," he says.